Habitats
Longleaf pine forests covered such a large geographical range. Perhaps what is taken for granted is how diverse this forest type was (and is) across the landscape.
Seeing longleaf pine forests today, many people often (erroneously) assume that the species is relegated to dry sandy ridges or steep south facing slopes. On the contrary, areas too steep, too dry to farm or too poor to grow loblolly or slash pine are, for the most part, merely a vestige of the richness that once was the longleaf pine ecosystem.
For thousands of years, subtle differences in soils and topography influenced fire behavior, site productivity etc. which, in turn, influenced the composition of the forest, e.g., groundcover plants, insect and animal species, and tree height, just to name a few.
These habitat types can generically be lumped into four groups: montane, sandhill, rolling hill, and flatwoods/savannas. Follow the links below to learn more about these remarkable habitats of the longleaf pine ecosystem.
Montane
Montane longleaf pine was found dominating the southern and southwestern slopes (though not confined to them) and ridgelines up to about 2000 ft. elevation in north Alabama and northwest Georgia. This habitat also includes an isolated ridge starting at Pine Mountain, GA and extending to Thomson, GA. Since much of the northern boundary of the longleaf pine is found in this habitat type, the forest is seen to subtly grade from a pure longleaf pine overstory to an overstory of mixed southern pines at its fringes. About 20 % of the pre-settlement longleaf pine ecosystem was covered by this habitat type.
Soils
The soils in which these longleaf grow are well drained with beds of flinty pebbles, sandstone ridges and even rock outcrops. In particular, on rocky ridges and slopes that contains sandstone, quartzite, plyllite, mica shcists and gneiss.
Common Plants
Broomstraws, bluestems, goat's rue, bracken ferns, rushes and sedges, sensitive briar.
Common Trees and Shrubs
scarlet oak, mountain blueberry, mountain laurel, American chestnut, blackjack oak, Virginia pine, shortleaf pine, pig nut hickory, mockernut hickory, rock chestnut oak, southern red oak.
Fire Frequency
Fires burned every one to five years to maintain this habitat type and either crept down ridge lines or roared up steep slopes.
Without Fire
Quickly turns into a hardwood/mixed pine forest (especially Virginia and Shortleaf Pines)
Sandhills
Characterized as sandhill ridges of loose, porous sand that starts in southern Virginia and runs through west Georgia at about 500 to 600 feet above sea level. A few isolated sand ridges exist on the Florida panhandle and peninsula. Longleaf Pine sandhills are characterized as a forest of widely spaced pine trees with a fire-stunted understory of deciduous (scrub) oaks and a sparse to continuous ground cover of bunchgrasses and herbs. Today, sandhill longleaf sites make of some of the largest acreages of remaining longleaf pine habitat (despite comprising roughly 10% of the original landscape).
Soils
Droughty, deep beds of white sands that are relatively low in fertility and result (often) in lower species diversity and usually shorter longleaf pine. In some areas sands can be 2-15 feet deep. In some areas of the Carolinas, sands can be 100 - 150 feet deep without changing.
Common Plants
pricky pear cactus, wiregrass, bluestems, hairsedge, piney woods dropseed, gopher apple, golden aster, hairawn muhly, pineland phlox, sandhill lupine, bird's foot violet, dwarf iris, fringed bluestar, pinebarren frostweed, pineland wild indigo, man-root (morning glory), sandhill roseling, orange-fringed orchids, yellow-eyed grasses, narrowleaf sabatia, threadleaf gererdia, goat's rue, butterfly pea, Carolina indigo.
Common Trees and Shrubs
turkey oak, bluejack oak, southern red oak, blackjack oak, sand post oak, myrtle oak, Arkansas oak, mockernut hickory, sand hickory, black cherry, sassafras, blackberry, sparkleberry, persimmon, low-bush blueberry, pawpaw.</span>
Fire Frequency
2 to 7 years carried almost exclusively by bunch grasses</span>
Without Fire
Usually succeeds to canopy dominated by scrub oaks (like turkey oak).
Rolling Hills
Characterized as having sufficiently rolling habitat to insure good drainage. Often very productive sites capable of producing excellent longleaf pine timber. Found at 130 to 250 feet above sea level. It is speculated that 30% of pre-settlement landscape was rolling hill habitat.
Soils
brown, sandy loam uplands 10 - 15 inches in depth often with fossiliferous materials. In some areas, underlying parent material is limestone. Occasionally, limestone pushes through the sandy loam and forms outcroppings.
Common Plants
Bear grass, bluestem bunchgrasses, wiregrass, rattlebox, dollar pea, lespedeza, candyroot, procession flower, orange milkwort, pinebarren goldenrod
Common Trees and Shrubs
blackjack oak, turkey oak, willow oak, sand post oak, southern red oak, Florida dogwood, mockernut hickory, black hickory, persimmon, gallberry, yaupon, wax myrtle.
Fire Frequency
1-3 years. Numerous native bunchgrasses to help carry fire.
Without Fire
Hardwoods (often willow oak or sweet gum) capture the forest midstory and overstory shading out ground cover plants.
Flatwoods and Savannas
Characterized as high density, longleaf pine dominated forests. The surface is very level, poorly drained and often interspersed with frequent and (sometimes large) swampy patches or wet prairies. Flatwoods can start just above the tidewater and extend inland to about 130 feet above sea level. Productivity is high and longleaf pines can reach heights in excess of 120 feet. This longleaf pine habitat type has the highest diversity of ground cover of herbs and shrubs. Since the soils are relatively poorly drained and typically have low reserves of available nutrients, numerous orchids and carnivorous plants are common in the ground cover. Often described as both the Atlantic Coastal Flatwoods and the Gulf Coastal Flatwoods.
Soils
Moderately to poorly drained terrain. The soils are typically acidic, have low reserves of available nutrients, are low in organic matter content and maintain an ash-colored silty clay appearance.
Common Plants
Tarflower, wiregrass, toothache grass, bluestems, silk grass, hatpins, muhly grass, pineweeds, pitcher plants, sundews, flytraps, Catesby's lilly, white star grass, morning glory, milkweeds, quail pea, butterfly pea, goat's rue, lespedezas, iron weed, deer tongue.
Common Trees and Shrubs
Water oak, sweet gum, red maple, ash, saw palmetto, gallberry, fetterbush, wax myrtle, yaupon, ilex, dwarf live oak, sweet bay, titi, southern magnolia, persimmon, black gum, creeping blueberry, blackberry.